Some Bloemfontein residents have expressed sadness for the three police officers who went missing on Wednesday. The residents say they hope for the officers’ safe return.

Three police constables went missing while travelling from Bloemfontein to their deployment area in Limpopo. Two of them were part of operation Vala Umgodi, which is investigating illegal mining activities in Limpopo, while the other one was stationed at the Park Road police station in Bloemfontein.

Safety issues have been raised by residents of Bloemfontein, they say if police officers can go missing without a trace, then ordinary South Africans are exposed.

They have, however, called on those responsible for this disappearance to spare the lives of the three constables.

“I am very sad, I feel unsafe because if this can happen to police, it can also happen to us. Our government and police have resources, they must take action and find the missing officers.”

“We feel very unsafe because we depend on the police to be safe, so this means we are not safe. I pray to God for their safe return.”

“We have to put ourselves in the shoes of the parents. Those are our children too, as things are, South African police are not safe and we are also not safe.”

#sapsHQ The National Commissioner of SAPS, General Fannie Masemola together with the Deputy National Commissioner for Crime Detection, Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya met with the team involved in investigating the disappearance of three police officers.

An update was… pic.twitter.com/HirlIo1KF0

— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) April 27, 2025

The national police commissioner, General Fannie Masemola has allayed the residents’ fears, saying there have been incidents of people disappearing who have been found.

He has called on those with information to contact the police.

“We believe that with the assistance of communities we can solve this case.We are following all the leads, including the vehicle that is doing the rounds on social media that was parked next to them at the filling station. We have processed that information and we are not looking narrowly around that, but our investigation is quite broad. We pledge our support to the families that we will always be with them.”

Meanwhile, police have issued a reward of R350 000 to anyone who has information that will lead to a breakthrough in the disappearance of the three police constables.